Children’s Wish Week

Children’s Wish Foundation and the Vancouver Christmas Market partnered for the 2017 season in order to raise funds to grant the most heartfelt wishes of B.C. children diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated during the market’s ‘Children’s Wish Week’, from Dec. 16 to 24, 2017.

Your donations raised an incredible $9,750 and sent Mahir and his family to New York City for a week, where his dream of spending New Year’s Eve in Times Square came true.

Fifteen-year-old Mahir is like many teenage boys – he loves video games, going to movies, Star Wars, and superheroes. But Mahir struggles everyday due to an E.coli infection he contracted when he was only two years old.

As a toddler, Mahir got sick with a strain of E.coli that resulted in Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) – a disease causing acute kidney failure. He required dialysis immediately and was in the hospital for four months, also experiencing seizures. Bacteria also entered his brain, and resulted in brain damage that still plagues Mahir’s development. While doctors were able to keep Mahir stable, 13 years later he now has stage 3 chronic kidney disease, learning delays, and may eventually need dialysis again or even a kidney transplant.

Life tends to revolve around Mahir’s needs and difficulties, but the whole family tries to put his illness at the back of their minds. One family tradition they have all cherished is sitting by the television on New Year’s Eve each year to watch the ball drop in New York City. It’s rituals like this that keep the family bonded through the tough times.

When Mahir found out he would be receiving a wish from Children’s Wish Foundation, his only wish was to go to New York for New Years with his family, as he’s always wanted to go to Times Square to see the celebrations in person. Thanks to all the funds raised at the Vancouver Christmas Market in 2017, Children’s Wish BC & Yukon Chapter was able to send Mahir, his parents, and his sister to the heart of New York to ring in 2018. While in the Big Apple, they also saw the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, saw “School of Rock” on Broadway, and did a week’s worth of sightseeing.

Mahir’s mom says of the trip: “The trip was absolutely fabulous for Mahir and the whole family! It was very heartwarming to see it all play out for him – plus we made it through the coldest New Years Eve in Time Square on record. It was truly a trip of a life time, full of memories that we will all keep dear to our hearts for years to come! Thank you Children’s Wish Foundation and Vancouver Christmas Market for making Mahir’s Wish come true.”